Stop wasting money support thread. Lets get frugal!

[LoveMyGirls]

I don't want to cut all spending I just want to cut down our spending so we can pay off the overdraught by christmas but at the moment it's not going well which is why I've decided to start this thread, those that want to join me can, those who don't want to join then your support would also be welcome.

I think if i write on here what I spend everyday I can see where to stop wasting money, it's also public so I'm open to others telling me where I could be saving money too. Any tips on organising our money better would also be apreciated.

At the moment we have seperate accounts (well one is joint but dp has lost his pin for his card)

Joint account is £2000 overdrawn. (reasons for this are I lost part of my income in August/ september and dd2's birthday and my mum's birthday too)
dp's bank - dp has just been paid he has £1000 in his bank.
Savings has £70 (went in by SO today)

Typical monthly spending is £2,470 a month

Typical earnings from next week are £3,100 per month

We have 2 childen and 2 cars (he needs his to travel for work, I need mine for work too) I shop at aldi and meal plan.

Total spend for today..

petrol £20
toddler group £2
brownies £1.50 = £23.50

Another zero day today I hope. Got to take dd to hospital but its free parking cos of her blue badge. Oh, I'll use petrol. Darn.

I forgot my stinking lunch so it's going to be at least a fiver on that. 2.05 for CRAP coffee, seriously awful stuff. 2.90 to get to work.

It's not started out a good day, to be honest. Ten minutes after I woke up I stepped in dog crap. Seriously.

Spent £6.26 on posting a parcel this morning.
Am staying in for the rest of the day so shouldn't spend anything else.

Going for a drink with my sister tonight but we are going to the student bar where we get a big meal and glass of wine for £5. Will get a lift home, so will probaby spend around £15.

Does everybody else know what their Dp's are spending on a daily basis. I haven't a clue.

Ah, just the thread I need
Am putting on slippers instead of the heating, and dont plan to spend anything today...

Have failed with my zero spend day, have just spent £36 on mini electric oven in the hope that I will save on the electricity bill by not having to put the fan oven on so much - after seeing how much it uses on the electricity monitor Eon sent us. Am absolutely freezing and would love to light the fire but trying to hold out.

Chocolateteapot I have two questions!

Where do you get logs from - I just buy the bags at garden centres!

And have you got a link for the electric oven? I've got one of those meters too and it's shocking how much it goes up when the oven's on.

Thought I was going for my fourth zero spend day in a row (hoorah) to remembering that I've just spent £54 in the Amnesty online shop (several birthday presents and Christmas presents sorted out though and will have wzxed paper bags for lunches rather than clingfilm so green points please) and have to go to Sainsbury's after work so we have food for the next week. Oh well.

Gordon, we get the logs from a local loggery. There are two round here and this one is the cheapest. Last year we got a half load but we got through them pretty quickly so this year we have a full load which cost £95. Comes on the back of a truck and he tipped it under the car port, DH made a wood store with old pallets and a tarp (and don't I know about it !).

The oven has come from Ebay, it is like this one. I've been debating whether to get a Remoska from Lakeland after seeing a thread on Moneysavingexpert.com but they are over £100 for the grande and this oven is the same wattage ie 650 as it so I thought it was worth a go. I know it isn't as flexible as the Remoska but I use the slow cooker a fair bit and think the mini oven and the slowcooker will mean I can cut back a lot on the main oven.

I'll post up what I think of it when it arrives and I've had a chance to use it.

My tip is to only shop once or twice/week and if you run out of something make do until next shop trip (saves a fortune).
Now I really must do this .

Yesterday I spent
£1 - toddler group
£ 8.12 - bread, milk, magazine, Cigarettes

From now on the magazines have to stop and the cigs are stopping next week after my birthday celebrations( I really don't want to be a grump on my birthday) so that should help curb expenses.

Today so far £0 but have earned £30

not done too great today, went to the shop for bread and ended up spending 10 quid

but that's all i've spent (apart from petrol getting ds to nursey) we went out for an autumn treasure hunt this afternoon instead of going to the garden centre and spending lots on cake

well done to everyone spending £0!

still not got the heating on tho, and the washing is drying on the line outside in the (freezing) wind

Today I've spent

£2 toddler group
£2.80 aqua fit (have put 4lbs on so I need to go)

= £4.80

I made dd1's lunch box so didn't have to spend money on lunch and I work from home so dd2 and I ate lunch here (crackerbread and philli) and dp made his own.

Today I spent £2.55 on plasters.

£1.94 on chocolate essentials.

£5.50 on threading for eyebrows and moustache upper lip. And that was essential...

Will do better tomorrow. Oh bugger no I won't I've got dentist appointment!

Crap day considering it was supposed to be zero spend

Huge wait at the hospital so ending up going to the vending machine £2

Then making dinner and DS pulls the bowl of breadcrumbs over and onto the floor so had to go to tesco which is where it all fell down because I ended up buying a new coat because it had £10 off and then a scratchcard and magazine , coat still has labels on so I might take it back tomorrow

Not sure about tomorrow but DD needs a new mattress from Ikea and thats always dangerous

does anyone else find it really difficult to get out of the shop without buying anything else than what you actually needed

sherby - ikea is very dangerous, i need to go and get a new duvet cover for dd but putting it off cos i can't seem to go there and spend less than £50, and they've got all the christmas stuff out now...

any of you help me out over here - i have a vent in my living room which is making the room freezing cold. any ideas on how to deal with it (apart from putting the heating on ) would be very much appreciated!!

beautifuldays, if they have got their xmas stuff out there is no way I am going

i'm a sucker for a nice wreath or two

Another low spend day here hopfully, although DH has got an extra days work on tomorrow which will help out with things

Kids are moaning it is cold but I am still not putting the heating on [mean emoticon]

I did put the radiator on in their room when they were going to bed last night and within 10mins it was so hot in there and they were complaining they were too hot

Lovemy girls - I don't think there is much point in having a SO going into a savings account when you have a 2000 overdraft.

Wouldn't merging your accounts into one that only has a 1000 overdraft (given your dh has 1000 in his) be sensible and motivating?

Sorry about lack of pound signs. I only have $ on my puter.

Yesterday did not go as planned I needed milk and batteries for a baby toy so ended up getting a few xmas pressies and a new duvet cover (we did only have 1 set of bedding for our room and its seen better days new one was £7) altogether i spent £41.60 plus £4.80 = £46.40

TP- I have thought that a few times tbh I do think its time we had 1 account and 1 savings account (i want to keep that because sometimes i'm not od and it does build up) dp has alot of things coming out of account and so do i so its finding time to move them all plus the bank loan we've got is with dp's bank so if we move dp wages to our bank we would need to set up a SO to his bank to cover that? (we've been together 7 years and we're getting married next year so time we sorted our finances!)

ikea is £90 minimum for us i find even if i try not to!

This is great to know we're all keeping an eye on each other!

Dp asked for a computer game the other day bet you can guess what i said! He also wants a new hard drive and a new tyre.

ooh can I join?

I have done really well the last fortnight. Have had a very strict weekly budget, although I have just realised I overspent by £5 this week because I got the numbers wrong I've planned everything out to the last penny.

Week starts on a Saturday, so I can start again from then. Tis a fresh start each week so I don't feel guilty.

Welcome FB! Wish I'd only overspent by £5, sounds like you might be able to teach me a few things I'm very willing to learn how to manage better. I have a budget (spreadsheet and I try not to overspend what we've budgeted but then things happen and it gets out of control)

Hi can I join?

I'm trying so hard to get my money problems sorted, we have a £300 overdraft to pay off, am paying a £1000 loan and am considering quitting my job as we might actually be better off if DS(2YO) isn't in nursery. £99 a week as I was promised 3 long days shifts a week so thought we'd be gaining but no my boss hasnt bothered her arse and I';m lucky if I get one shift a week

Have always been frugal with my gas/electric £20 p/week on both as on card.

Shopping is the one that gets me! I can't get below £45 a week for the 3 of us, any tips?

I am just anal, obsessive and don't like losing, so it has turned into a competition with myself

I am on £45 a week for 4 of us - £25 is tins, veg etc from supermarket, £10 is meat from butcher (it works out cheaper for me), and £10 is for extra milk and bread in the week (we go through loads!).

I try to work out rough menu plans, buy what I know will get eaten. I work out the order online first, and then go to the shop to buy it.

I am buying more frozen veg atm than fresh because if I just have to pour it in a pan, I use it, if it needs preparing lately it doesn't get touched and is wasted